Despite pressure from local residents and environmentalists, the Scottish government announced on Monday that it had approved Trump's plan to build a luxury golf resort on 1,400 acres of coastal land in northeast Scotland.

"It took a little bit of a fight, but we've been waiting for this for a few years so it was well worth it," says George Sorial, managing director of international development and assistant general counsel to The Trump Organization. Sorial, a former partner at Day Pitney and New Jersey's DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler, says that he handled most of the regulatory and planning approvals while Trump Organization general counsel Jason Greenblatt coordinated the six land purchases for the project.

Not surprisingly for a deal that faced some local opposition, the advice of local counsel was also critical. Sorial says Trump turned to a legal team from Scotland's largest firm, Dundas & Wilson, for advice on land acquisitions and regulatory approvals.

The plan calls for the golf resort to be built on coastal lands near the North Sea at Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, which is located about 12 miles north of Aberdeen. Sorial says the development will include two golf courses, a 450-room hotel, 500 single-family homes, 950 holiday homes, 36 golf villas, a conference center, a golf academy, and such ancillary facilities like clubhouses.

No stranger to legal battles, overcoming Scotland's regulatory hurdles to the golf transaction gets Trump back in the win column. Last month a New York State judge ruled against The Donald in an ongoing dispute he has with New York's Morrison Cohen, whom Trump accuses of overcharging him in a case.